When Brian John Mitchell
was 12 years old, he read the "The Music of Erich Zann" by HP Lovecraft,
which told of scaring monsters away using music. This story, along with
his actual fear of these creatures, is what drew him to learning music.
Clearly, neither his interest in music, nor his fear of monsters has waned,
for he has spent the past year or so collecting tracks for Zann,
a compilation of music dedicated to scaring monsters away.

Zann brings the listener on
a strange and surreal musical journey, with tracks that vary in both intensity
and intent. Evidently, each artist involved has a very different idea of
what types of sounds frighten these beasts. Yet they all share a common
thread: each is apparently aware of the threat monsters pose in our everyday
lives, and their musical inspiration is fear and necessity. The common
theme makes Zann almost feel more like an album than a compilation
gathering artists from different parts of the world and from different
genres of experimental music.

Zann can be taken in either as something
frightening and menacing in its own right or as something soothing to let
you sleep, to give yourself a moment to be safe from all the things scratching
on your windows and doors and the bottom of your bed.

Reviews

"DIVERSE EXPERIMENTAL SOUNDS: The theme
for this compilation is based on H.P.Lovecraft's story "The Music of Erich
Zann," which is about scaring monsters away using music. Various interpretations
of this theme are made by Trance to the Sun, SubArachnoid Space, The Unquiet
Void, Pineal Ventana, dA Sebasstian, pFrenz-C, Remora, Small Life Form
w/Jarboe and many others. With eighteen artists in all, there are plenty
of unusual and surreal sounds on Zann ranging from lush atmospherics,
melodies, and subtle vocals, to harsh noise and haunting cries. While providing
a hauntingly good time, Zann just might do the trick in ridding
your home of those pesky things that go bump in the night." - Outburn

"[Zann is] a compilation inspired
by the story "The Music of Erich Zann" by weird fiction master HP Lovecraft.
A variety of styles are explored here by the eighteen contributing artists,
some of which include: Small Life Form w/Jarboe (droning experimental/ambient),
Trance to the Sun (ethereal), The Pulling Kiss (eerie soundtrack-type material),
Pineal Ventana (slow hellish jazz), and Drekka (who sings "Jesus Loves
Me"). You'll also encounter dark ambient, ritual chanting, and spacey improv.
Zann
is one of those rare comps that is, for the most part, enjoyable throughout.
The packaging compliments the music well, featuring great cover art by
Kimberlee Traub. You can't go wrong with this CD released by Silber Records.
Buy it!" - Pindrops and Cathedral Bells